, 1887-03-08
rh. bundle was no longer finishing"

The bundle was no longer ''missing."
1t WAS
felt resigned. Iconsoled myself. Ievcn
became glad. l reflected that IL it had been
stockings of a rare and peculiar quality
and certainly my sister, knowing my fas-
tidious taste, wouldn't have sent me
common silk stockings-that they might
have been the cause of producing all sorts
Of disasters.
For instance, If they a been silk
stockings of beauty, / should
have no shoes to match. l might AVE
found something at O'Neil's to match;
or If not to match, to 10 tolerably. And
good graciousl there would nave been n
pretty bill to pay. Then my dress would
have had to be Of q simple elegance"
We all know what that means. "Simple
elegance is the most expensive kind of
elegance in the market. To dress in sim
pie elegance and sit In an ordinary parlor
would have been impossible. To make
over my parlor, and fit my clothes would
have been financial ruin to my husband,
and moral ruin to my boys.
But 1 did want to know h was in
the bundle, and 1 did want it found, be-
cause it might have been something else
that wasn't moral and financial ruin.
The months wore away, and it was six
months since / had first heard of my
bundle. 1t was December, and my sister
was coming home, and all that time had
passed without having heard a word
about the bundle. 1 went to New York
to meet Mrs. Bowen, but 1 had q dread
full cold on my lungs and could scarcely
speak, and as 1 was visiting far up street
l did not go to the dock to meet her, but
waited till she reached the hotel; and 1
walked into the Brevoort house half an
hour after she reached there. After five
minutes of saying, "How do you dor"
"Are you awfully tired'" sDid you have
a rough timer" sToO bad you were
sickl" There never is anything else to
say when your dearest friends have been
gone q few years-at least, not at first, I
said:
''For PHYS sake, do tell me what was
in that bundle you sent mer'
My sister was reading one of the heap
of letters that had been handed her just
as l entered the room. After a few sec
onds she raised her eyes and dropped the
letter.
'Oh, yes,'' she said, 81 am glad you
spoke of that. I've been wondering what
in the world you meant in all your
later letters by forever asking mt about
n bundle"
Eyes, the bundle; do tell me about it.
l kept writing and writing you about it,
and you never answered. Why didn't
your
Eyes" said my sister, ''your letters be-
came really quite frantic about q bundle.
Now will you tell me what you meant
by itr'
1 began to open my mouth, when she
said:
"You see l couldn't make head or tail
of 1t, and writing mixes things up 50, l
thought 1 would wait until l saw you"
"Well, what was in its' l said.
''In what?'
She looked extremely puzzled.
I'm WHAT" 1 almost shrieked. Iwould
nave shrieked il 1 could have, but my
cold was so bad that l could just speak
above a whisper. why, the bundle, of
course"
'TWhat bundlet' And she really did
speak very loud. 'fWhat bundle? 1 don't
know what on earth you mean"
The bundle you sent me by Mr..
Haven. What other bundle can 1 means"
1.-THE bundle l sent you by Mr.. Haven't
l never sent you any bundle by Mr..
Haven't
1 fell back in my chair and gasped. l
couldn't speak for n moment, and then l
repeated:
Never sent me any bundle by Mr..
Haven't
-'Neveri What m ideal What made
you think l didF'
When l could collect my senses and my
breath, l told her the story from beginning
to end, and then she was as astonisher
and mystifed as we all had been. She
solemnly asserted that she never had ser3
me any bundle by any one, and that If she
had ever sent me a present, it wasn't AT
all likely she would have forgotten it.
And that was perfectly true. She could
not have forgotten it il she had sent me a
gift, and l knew it. But on the other
hand, there was Mr.. Haven and his posi-
tive assertion, and hurt feelings, etc.
From that day to this it has remained
an absolute mystery. TIL word Of Mrs.
Bowen is not to be disputed; neither is
the word of Mr.. Haven.
There have been a great many explana-
ions of this affair of the bundle, and
many questions asked. This is a speci-
men:
"Why didn't you go to the Twenty
third street office; it would naturally
AVE gone there from the Brunswick"
but it was never SENT
"Ohi yes, to be suren
My sister still says she never sent n
bundle; but Mr.. Haven said the last time
I knew of his speaking of it:
81 took a bundle just as / said l did,
If this is so, what did become of ''The
Bundle. n-Katharine b. Foot in Cosmo-
politan.